Besins Healthcare appoints new General Manager for UK & Ireland to lead continued evolution of men’s and women’s hormone health medicines

(London, UK. 12 February 2024) – Besins Healthcare (UK) Limited (BHUK) today announces the appointment of Irina Spirieva as its new General Manager for the UK and Ireland. Irina joins the leading hormone specialty pharmaceutical company after a period of significant growth and commitment to invest considerable resources to upscale the manufacturing and supply of its medicines to meet the exponential growth in demand in the UK over the last few years.

Irina joins BHUK with a wealth of experience in women’s health and global pharma including senior roles at Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Organon. She will report to Besins Healthcare’s Antoine Groues, Chief Operating Officer, based at Besins Healthcare’s headquarters in Monaco.

Commenting on her new role, Irina explains: “I am delighted to join Besins Healthcare (UK) Limited at a particularly exciting period in the company’s evolution as a leading provider of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) medicines for women and also providing hormone treatments for men to both the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK and to the Health Service Executive in Ireland.

“I am looking forward to guiding the next phase of Besins’ activity as we work to empower men and women to make informed decisions about the management of life-impacting hormonal conditions, and through the provision of our medicines can support them to lead healthier and more fulfilling lives.” 

Commenting on the unmet need of women’s hormone health, Irina says “While progress is being made through the Women’s Health Strategy to support women’s health, I am mindful that more needs to be done to support informed decision-making to ensure better access to menopause services and medicines. We know that once women are settled on a particular HRT regimen that suits their needs, the continuity of its supply is vital to ensure optimal health outcomes. I take that responsibility very seriously at Besins.

“Research indicates that sadly nearly one million women of peri- and menopausal age have now left the UK workforce in recent years, often against their wishes, because the healthcare and working environments have not adequately supported them.¹ That is a real issue on a macro level for our post-Brexit, post-Covid economy, and a disaster for many women on a personal level if they have suffered unavoidably. As a mother of two young daughters, I want to make sure that the fantastic inroads that menopause activists, like the trailblazers Davina McCall and Carolyn Harris MP, have made are built upon and we work together collectively to embed a positive legacy of supporting women of which we can all be proud.”

Commenting on the unmet need of men’s hormone health, Irina explains, “I am pleased to see that, at last, there is recognition for the unique complexities in men’s health with the recent announcement by the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of a men’s health ambassador and the launch of a men’s health taskforce.

“I am hopeful that within this intent there will be a concerted policy focus to address men’s health including hormone imbalances in men, such as testosterone deficiency and associated co-morbidities. This is a neglected area of men’s health which should now be given the focus that it warrants.”

Irina replaces Del Cohen, who successfully led Besins Healthcare UK as General Manager from 2013 to 2023. Irina started her role on 27 November 2023 to allow a period of seamless transition. Del will continue to provide expert counsel to Besins on a range of subjects and will also engage as an industry consultant.

Antoine Groues, Chief Operating Officer, Besins Healthcare, warmly welcomed Irina as the best person for the company’s next phase in evolution, “We believe that Irina’s passion and experience in women’s health sets her apart: the company is in safe hands to help further develop its hormone-health partnership with the health systems of the UK and Ireland. Del Cohen has been an outstanding colleague and former leader, and we would like to thank him for his unwavering dedication to our company. We look forward to supporting Irina in her new role and supporting the patients she and the company seek to serve.”

About Irina Spirieva

Irina holds bachelor’s degrees in business administration & political science and international Relations from the American University in Bulgaria and a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from Bayes Business School in London.

Irina started her career in fast moving consumer goods working in brand management for AB-InBev and Heineken. Following the completion of her MBA, she joined Johnson & Johnson in the UK to coordinate the post-merger integration of a vaccine business and subsequently supported its oncology franchise. During her tenure at Merck & Co, Irina led the Women’s Health franchise as Head of Sales & Marketing. She then supported the spin-off of Merck’s women’s health business and joined the newly-formed company Organon as Head of Commercial Operations for UK, Northern Europe, and Israel.

Reference:

1. Menopause and the workplace. The Women and Equalities Committee Report. House of Commons. Published 22 July 2022. Page 24. https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5803/cmselect/cmwomeq/91/report.html Last accessed January 2024.

About Besins Healthcare UK

Besins Healthcare is a specialist company with a strong family heritage that has dedicated over 50 years to understanding the impact of hormones in the fields of gynaecology, andrology, fertility, obstetrics, and endocrinology. By working with passion and commitment we develop and deliver hormone therapies and solutions to people with hormone imbalance in the UK and Ireland.

Our aim is to empower those with life-impacting hormonal conditions, enabling them to lead fulfilling lives both now and in the future. Our patient-centric ethos is: “By your side, for life”. www.besinshealthcare.co.uk